Monday, May 25, 2015

Review: Eurovision 2015

Saturday was an interesting day. First of all, there was the referendum on gay marriage in Ireland, which proved to be the most wonderful thing ever and then to cap it off, we had the 60th anniversary of the Eurovision. Now, live from Vienna, Austria, a new winner was about to take Conchita's prize and it turned out to be ....



Well, Sweden of course with popstar/television presenter Mans Zelmerlow's slightly Guetta influenced Heroes bagging the top prize with a whopping 365 points. I have to admit it was one of my favourite songs from the night and while the singer himself did generate controversy last year for some unfavourable comments he made about being gay (which as I should point out, he has since apologised for and made amends), it did seem early on that Mans was going to emerge as a clear winner, especially given his country's penchant for pop music and the guy's general crossover appeal. He might have lacked an eccentricity that some of his fellow contestants had in spades but it's pretty easy to see why Mans emerged the winner in the end, even if both Italy and Russia did initially give him a good run for his money.


Speaking of Russia, they managed to generate controversy once again. While their entry - Polina Gagarina had a decent song with A Million Voices and didn't seem to generate boos that her predecessors had done in 2014, Russia did themselves no favours with the apparent editing of Conchita from their broadcasts of the contest. They did however manage to come in second place with 303 points. It's a shame that with Russia continue to display such an abhorrent attitude towards LGBT citizens, something which they are thankfully continuing to get deserved criticism for. Sort yourselves out, Russia.


As for Australia - this was the first time the country were allowed to participate in the contest and while Guy Sebastian's effort - Tonight Again sounded a bit too much like a Bruno Mars B-Side, it was still a pretty solid effort that managed to bag the country a respectable 196 points and fifth position as well. Rounding off the top five were Italy's Il Volo's Grande Amore, pulling in 292 points and coming in third place while Belgium's Loïc Nottet's Rhythm Inside came in fourth position with 217 points. On the flipside, both Germany and Austria's efforts came last, with 0 points each while Britain's somewhat offbeat entry - Electro Velvet's Still In Love With You only pulled in 5 points altogether. Other memorable moments from this year came courtesy of Serbia, Latvia, Georgia and Azerbaijan to name a few. Not to mention that the presenters were a step up from last year as well.


Of course I couldn't end this blog by yet again mentioning Ireland's misfortune with this event. Our bad luck continued this year when our entry - Molly Sterling's Playing With Numbers didn't make it into the final and we were left out in the cold once again. I have to admit that Molly's song wasn't particularly bad but like last year's near effort, it did seem a little forgettable. Maybe we need a better system than The Late Late Show for picking future songs, now that Sweden are gaining momentum on our winning record.

For a night commemorating 60 years of Eurovision, it was a good one with a strong winner as well. Overall, I found it rather enjoyable myself.

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